An exploratory case study of accelerator programmes in the Republic of South Africa
- Authors: Mametse, Mmankitseng Lerato
- Date: 2019
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/92639 , vital:30737
- Description: South Africa is facing a challenge of poverty, unemployment and low growth. Government has identified the small and medium-sized business (SME) sector as one of the ways through which to combat these challenges. Government has also set up programmes and agencies to support SMEs in their search for funding and other kinds of support. South Africa, however, has one of the highest rates of SME failures in the world, with the majority not surviving beyond three years. Alternative interventions are therefore required to support South Africa’s SMEs to become sustainable companies beyond three years and to contribute positively to economic growth, poverty alleviation and job creation. This paper explores one kind of intervention that has been used internationally and that is increasingly being adopted in South Africa. Accelerator programmes, aimed at supporting start-ups to get to the next level of their development, have been growing in numbers around the world, trying to replicate the success of the original accelerator programme – the Y Combinator – which was responsible for the success of household names such as Airbnb and Dropbox. Accelerator programmes help start-up companies define and build their initial products, identify promising customer segments, and secure resources, including capital and employees. By making these necessary resources available to start-ups, it may be possible to ensure that fewer start-ups fail and more SMEs remain sustainable into the future. Several accelerator programmes have been founded in South Africa, all with a similar aim: to accelerate the development of start-ups that have the potential to grow exponentially given access to the right resources. This paper examines how South African accelerator programmes work in terms of the key resources made available to the start-ups that participate in their programmes. An increasing number of academic papers have been written on accelerator programmes internationally, but little information is available for the South African context. This research study investigated the phenomenon of accelerator programmes in South Africa through the lens of Resource-based Theory. The theory posits that, in order to gain a sustained competitive advantage, companies need to utilise their resources (including physical, human and organisational) in a manner that is effective and efficient, both internally and externally. The research answers the following questions: How do accelerator programmes work in South Africa? What value (in terms of resources offered) do they claim to bring to start-ups that go through their accelerator programmes? An exploratory case study method was selected to understand the phenomenon of accelerator programmes in South Africa. Purposeful sampling was used in the selection of accelerator programmes, as it allows for the selection of information-rich cases. The research findings indicate that accelerator programmes in South Africa follow the structure of providing start-ups, over a period between three months and one year, with resources that will assist them to be successful into the future. The investigation finds that human and financial resources are some of the most valuable resources that accelerator programmes provide to start-ups to help progress these start-ups to their next level of development. The most important resource is mentorship from knowledgeable industry players who are themselves entrepreneurs. Access to networks to gain access to the market, as well as funding, is also made available by accelerator programmes. This investigation provides a glimpse of the accelerator programme phenomenon in South Africa and highlights the important role that mentorship from experienced entrepreneurs, and access to markets and funding, play in the development of start-ups.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Mametse, Mmankitseng Lerato
- Date: 2019
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/92639 , vital:30737
- Description: South Africa is facing a challenge of poverty, unemployment and low growth. Government has identified the small and medium-sized business (SME) sector as one of the ways through which to combat these challenges. Government has also set up programmes and agencies to support SMEs in their search for funding and other kinds of support. South Africa, however, has one of the highest rates of SME failures in the world, with the majority not surviving beyond three years. Alternative interventions are therefore required to support South Africa’s SMEs to become sustainable companies beyond three years and to contribute positively to economic growth, poverty alleviation and job creation. This paper explores one kind of intervention that has been used internationally and that is increasingly being adopted in South Africa. Accelerator programmes, aimed at supporting start-ups to get to the next level of their development, have been growing in numbers around the world, trying to replicate the success of the original accelerator programme – the Y Combinator – which was responsible for the success of household names such as Airbnb and Dropbox. Accelerator programmes help start-up companies define and build their initial products, identify promising customer segments, and secure resources, including capital and employees. By making these necessary resources available to start-ups, it may be possible to ensure that fewer start-ups fail and more SMEs remain sustainable into the future. Several accelerator programmes have been founded in South Africa, all with a similar aim: to accelerate the development of start-ups that have the potential to grow exponentially given access to the right resources. This paper examines how South African accelerator programmes work in terms of the key resources made available to the start-ups that participate in their programmes. An increasing number of academic papers have been written on accelerator programmes internationally, but little information is available for the South African context. This research study investigated the phenomenon of accelerator programmes in South Africa through the lens of Resource-based Theory. The theory posits that, in order to gain a sustained competitive advantage, companies need to utilise their resources (including physical, human and organisational) in a manner that is effective and efficient, both internally and externally. The research answers the following questions: How do accelerator programmes work in South Africa? What value (in terms of resources offered) do they claim to bring to start-ups that go through their accelerator programmes? An exploratory case study method was selected to understand the phenomenon of accelerator programmes in South Africa. Purposeful sampling was used in the selection of accelerator programmes, as it allows for the selection of information-rich cases. The research findings indicate that accelerator programmes in South Africa follow the structure of providing start-ups, over a period between three months and one year, with resources that will assist them to be successful into the future. The investigation finds that human and financial resources are some of the most valuable resources that accelerator programmes provide to start-ups to help progress these start-ups to their next level of development. The most important resource is mentorship from knowledgeable industry players who are themselves entrepreneurs. Access to networks to gain access to the market, as well as funding, is also made available by accelerator programmes. This investigation provides a glimpse of the accelerator programme phenomenon in South Africa and highlights the important role that mentorship from experienced entrepreneurs, and access to markets and funding, play in the development of start-ups.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Local versus landscape effects of bush encroachment on plant available light, soil moisture, frost occurrence and herbaceous productivity and composition
- Authors: Klopper, Chrisna
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/3137 , vital:20376
- Description: Bush encroachment is a global phenomenon and a pressing concern for South Africa rangelands. The expansion and increase in density of Vachellia karroo (hereafter referred to aAcacia karroo) has been documented in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu Natal in South Africa. This increase in woody species in savannas is often at the expense of grass cover and thus is causing concern about how this will impact agriculture due to possible loss of grazing capacity. To understand the impacts of bush encroachment the effect of trees on their micro-climate and abiotic factors and in turn on the herbaceous layer needs to be examined. The objective of this study was to quantify the effect of Acacia karroo encroachment on the light environment, soil moisture and frost occurrence in the sub-canopy and inter-canopy micro-habitats, and how these changes affected herbaceous player productivity and composition. Another question that is being addressed here is whether, and how, the local tree effects scale up in the landscape and whether prediction can be made based on the effects of individual trees. The study was undertaken on a farm, Endwell, in the Smaldeel, Eastern Cape. At the study site, a semi-arid savanna, Acacia karroo has been encroaching since the 1980’s. The study was conducted at three scales: landscape, stand-wide and local scale. The landscape scale was represented by four areas with 0, 21, 45 and 72% tree canopy cover, the stand-wide scale consisted of transects with varying percentages of tree canopy cover within each of the four levels of encroachment. The local scale was represented by the sub-canopy and inter-canopy environment to test the effect of trees. At the local scale plant available light and soil moisture were lower in the sub-canopy than intercanopy regions, with leaf area index being higher in the sub-canopy. This local negative effect of the tree canopy on light and soil moisture in the sub-canopy did not scale up predictably in the landscape. At the stand-wide scale light in the inter-canopy was reduced as shading increased. Frost was excluded from under the canopies and frost incidence decreased at higher tree cover. Grass productivity was reduced in the sub-canopy, possibly due to lower light and soil moisture. Overall biomass increased from the low to medium level of encroachment but lowest at the high level of encroachment. Grass composition and cover was only slightly affected by tree canopies cover and C4 grass species were still present in the sub-canopy and at lower light environments. At the levels of Acacia karroo encroachment encountered at this study site, it seems unlikely that palatable or desirable C4 would be excluded from the system and that a shift from C4 to shade-tolerant species would occur. This is due to tree canopies at the site not reducing light to such anextent that they would outcompete grasses, and likely the very low grazing pressure at thesesites. Herbaceous biomass at these sites were still sufficient to carry a fire in the inter-canopyregion and sufficient grazing for herbivores. In the sub-canopy region fires will be excluded thus with higher the portion of sub-canopy areas increasing at the high levels of encroachment they may interrupt fire spread. Thus it was concluded that Acacia karroo encroachment up to 45% tree cover is currently not creating negative feedback on herbivory, but low stocking rates appear to be key to maintain this.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Klopper, Chrisna
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/3137 , vital:20376
- Description: Bush encroachment is a global phenomenon and a pressing concern for South Africa rangelands. The expansion and increase in density of Vachellia karroo (hereafter referred to aAcacia karroo) has been documented in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu Natal in South Africa. This increase in woody species in savannas is often at the expense of grass cover and thus is causing concern about how this will impact agriculture due to possible loss of grazing capacity. To understand the impacts of bush encroachment the effect of trees on their micro-climate and abiotic factors and in turn on the herbaceous layer needs to be examined. The objective of this study was to quantify the effect of Acacia karroo encroachment on the light environment, soil moisture and frost occurrence in the sub-canopy and inter-canopy micro-habitats, and how these changes affected herbaceous player productivity and composition. Another question that is being addressed here is whether, and how, the local tree effects scale up in the landscape and whether prediction can be made based on the effects of individual trees. The study was undertaken on a farm, Endwell, in the Smaldeel, Eastern Cape. At the study site, a semi-arid savanna, Acacia karroo has been encroaching since the 1980’s. The study was conducted at three scales: landscape, stand-wide and local scale. The landscape scale was represented by four areas with 0, 21, 45 and 72% tree canopy cover, the stand-wide scale consisted of transects with varying percentages of tree canopy cover within each of the four levels of encroachment. The local scale was represented by the sub-canopy and inter-canopy environment to test the effect of trees. At the local scale plant available light and soil moisture were lower in the sub-canopy than intercanopy regions, with leaf area index being higher in the sub-canopy. This local negative effect of the tree canopy on light and soil moisture in the sub-canopy did not scale up predictably in the landscape. At the stand-wide scale light in the inter-canopy was reduced as shading increased. Frost was excluded from under the canopies and frost incidence decreased at higher tree cover. Grass productivity was reduced in the sub-canopy, possibly due to lower light and soil moisture. Overall biomass increased from the low to medium level of encroachment but lowest at the high level of encroachment. Grass composition and cover was only slightly affected by tree canopies cover and C4 grass species were still present in the sub-canopy and at lower light environments. At the levels of Acacia karroo encroachment encountered at this study site, it seems unlikely that palatable or desirable C4 would be excluded from the system and that a shift from C4 to shade-tolerant species would occur. This is due to tree canopies at the site not reducing light to such anextent that they would outcompete grasses, and likely the very low grazing pressure at thesesites. Herbaceous biomass at these sites were still sufficient to carry a fire in the inter-canopyregion and sufficient grazing for herbivores. In the sub-canopy region fires will be excluded thus with higher the portion of sub-canopy areas increasing at the high levels of encroachment they may interrupt fire spread. Thus it was concluded that Acacia karroo encroachment up to 45% tree cover is currently not creating negative feedback on herbivory, but low stocking rates appear to be key to maintain this.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Concept development in aspects of ecology
- Authors: Webb, Paul
- Date: 1988
- Subjects: Ecology -- Study and teaching
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1354 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001420
- Description: In this study food webs and a case study are used to investigate concepts which university students and high school pupils hold about ecology and the degree to which concept development has taken place at particular educational levels. The sample was drawn from first year zoology students and biology pupils in standards eight and ten. Present data indicate that students and pupils could solve problems involving the interactions of populations only if they were simple enough to be answered using strategies based on the food chain concept. Very few subjects could succesfully determine all the interacting pathways along which effects may be transmitted within a food web. The ability to determine all the pathways along which the effects of a change in population numbers within a community are spread, and to analyse the possible net manifestation of sometimes conflicting forces, requires a clear understanding of the concept of food web. An immature understanding of the food web concept by the subjects of this study is suggested as, in most cases, they identified alternate pathways within the food web when explicitly asked to do so, but did not apply this strategy when asked to solve problems based on the same principle. The case study also revealed immature ecological concepts. Responses by standard eight pupils indicate that the opportunity exists at this level to develop a clear and mature understanding of the concept of food web, while comparison of data provided by the three age groups suggests that if clear conceptual development regarding food webs does not take place at school, misconceptions are likely to persist among first year university students.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1988
- Authors: Webb, Paul
- Date: 1988
- Subjects: Ecology -- Study and teaching
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1354 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001420
- Description: In this study food webs and a case study are used to investigate concepts which university students and high school pupils hold about ecology and the degree to which concept development has taken place at particular educational levels. The sample was drawn from first year zoology students and biology pupils in standards eight and ten. Present data indicate that students and pupils could solve problems involving the interactions of populations only if they were simple enough to be answered using strategies based on the food chain concept. Very few subjects could succesfully determine all the interacting pathways along which effects may be transmitted within a food web. The ability to determine all the pathways along which the effects of a change in population numbers within a community are spread, and to analyse the possible net manifestation of sometimes conflicting forces, requires a clear understanding of the concept of food web. An immature understanding of the food web concept by the subjects of this study is suggested as, in most cases, they identified alternate pathways within the food web when explicitly asked to do so, but did not apply this strategy when asked to solve problems based on the same principle. The case study also revealed immature ecological concepts. Responses by standard eight pupils indicate that the opportunity exists at this level to develop a clear and mature understanding of the concept of food web, while comparison of data provided by the three age groups suggests that if clear conceptual development regarding food webs does not take place at school, misconceptions are likely to persist among first year university students.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1988
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